900-acre Site Development, Sanctuary at Costa Grande, Calhoun County, Texas (2007-2012)
To support this development project, Crouch Environmental Services performed a variety of biological resource studies, including a wetland delineation, habitat assessment, and presence/absence survey for federal and state listed species.
The project site was located in close proximity to the Aransas National Wildlife refuge, which is federally designated as critical habitat for an endangered bird species, the whooping crane (Grus americana). This posed a unique and complex issue for the developer of the proposed project. Mr. Greg Crouch responded by conducting research to gather 15 years of whooping crane sightings on the central Texas Coast, and he proved that whooping cranes would not be affected by the proposed project. This was documented in a biological assessment following the consultation process as mandated by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) under Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act.
Crouch Environmental Services followed up by conducting an intensive five-year monitoring program for whooping cranes on the project site. Results of the five-year study demonstrated that whooping cranes habituated to the anthropogenic disturbance associated with construction of the residential community.
Crouch Environmental Services also prepared, coordinated, and acquired a permit from the US Army Corps of Engineers for impacts to jurisdictional waters and wetlands pursuant to Sections 10 and 404 of the Clean Water Act. To compensate for the impacts associated with the project, Crouch Environmental Services designed and created approximately 60 acres of on-site saltwater, freshwater, and seagrass mitigation areas.